Plants + soil/wetland microbes: Food crop systems that also clean air and water

The limitations that will govern bioregenerative life support applications in space, especially volume and weight, make multi-purpose systems advantageous. This paper outlines two systems which utilize plants and associated microbial communities of root or growth medium to both produce food crops and clean air and water. Underlying these approaches are the large numbers and metabolic diversity of microbes associated with roots and found in either soil or other suitable growth media. Biogeochemical cycles have microbial links and the ability of microbes to metabolize virtually all trace gases, whether of technogenic or biogenic origin, has long been established. Wetland plants and the rootzone microbes of wetland soils/media also been extensively researched for their ability to purify wastewaters of a great number of potential water pollutants, from nutrients like N and P, to heavy metals and a range of complex industrial pollutants. There is a growing body of research on the ability of higher plants to purify air and water. Associated benefits of these approaches is that by utilizing natural ecological processes, the cleansing of air and water can be done with little or no energy inputs. Soil and rootzone microorganisms respond to changing pollutant types by an increase of the types of organisms with the capacity to use these compounds. Thus living systems have an adaptive capacity as long as the starting populations are sufficiently diverse. Tightly sealed environments, from office buildings to spacecraft, can have hundreds or even thousands of potential air pollutants, depending on the materials and equipment enclosed. Human waste products carry a plethora of microbes which are readily used in the process of converting its organic load to forms that can be utilized by green plants. Having endogenous means of responding to changing air and water quality conditions represents safety factors as these systems operate without the need for human intervention. We review this research and the ability of systems using these mechanisms to also produce food or other useful crops. Concerns about possible pathogens in soils and wastewater are discussed along with some methods to prevent contact, disease transmission and to pre-screen and decrease risks. The psychological benefits of having systems utilizing green plants are becoming more widely recognized. Some recent applications extending the benefits of plants and microbes to solve new environmental problems are presented. For space applications, we discuss the use of in situ space resources and ways of making these systems compact and light-weight.     

陆军战术无人侦察机（下）——苏联／俄罗斯战术无人侦察机

在当今世界，无人机以其独特的优势日益受到各国军方的青睐。无人机的研制，运用和发展也可谓方兴未艾。但对世人来讲，世界航空大国俄罗斯的无人机长期以来却一直是个谜……早在20世纪50年代初，随着喷气式发动机的诞生，苏联开始研制中远程巡航导弹和洲际弹道导弹以及军用无人机。军用无人机拥有有人驾驶飞机不可替代的许多优点：结构设汁简单、起降简便等，从而在军用航空武器中占据了特殊的地位。其无人机的发展大致可分为三个阶段。[编者按]     

布什的新坐骑 美国总统新型专用直升机终定US101

美国海军近日宣布。新的总统专用直升机“海军一号”编队的承建合约已由与欧洲公司合作的国防部最大供应商洛克希德&;#183;马丁公司投得。这个决定就此给洛克希德&;#183;马丁公司和西科斯基飞机公司间一场错综复杂的激烈竞争画上了句号。     

为台独“决战境外” 台湾“中翔”无人机计划的背后

台湾军方对无人机的浓厚兴趣，是很早就开始了，不过由于无人机是敏感军事装备，因此台湾外购无人机一直受到限制。但是台湾通过无人机做大军事力量的野心仍在不断的扩张。台湾的无人驾驶飞机一直被认为是这样一种状态：总水平比较低，起步较晚，种类有限，主要军事用途包括战术侦察，战场与海岸监控，电子干扰和诱饵；商业用途包括交通监视，资源勘探，反走私，反偷渡等。[编者按]     

The space elevator in the context of current space exploration policy

The space elevator is an advanced space transportation system that someday could replace chemical rockets as humanity's primary means of reaching Earth's orbit. However, before this can occur, a number of enabling technologies will need to be developed, and a variety of economic and policy questions must be addressed. The goal of this paper is to examine the feasibility of the space elevator in the context of current space exploration policy. The paper reviews the space elevator's critical enabling technologies and presents their wide variety of applications. The challenges of funding the space elevator and of building support for the program are discussed. The potential for international cooperation is considered, and the role of the space elevator in the Vision for Space Exploration is examined. The paper argues that each of the space elevator's component technologies ought to be developed independently to meet separate nearer-term objectives. The space elevator should be just one of many applications considered in making decisions to pursue research and development related to each component technology. The enabling technologies, once mature, might eventually be integrated in the construction of a full-scale space elevator from the Earth's surface to geosynchronous orbit and beyond.     

ICAN: A novel laser architecture for space debris removal

The development of a fiber based laser architecture will enable novel applications in environments which have hitherto been impossible due to size, efficiency and power of traditional systems. Such a new architecture has been developed by the International Coherent Amplification Network (ICAN) project. Here we present an analysis of utilizing an ICAN laser for the purpose of tracking and de-orbiting hyper-velocity space debris. With an increasing number of new debris from collisions of active, derelict and new payloads in orbit, there is a growing danger of runaway debris impacts. Due to its compactness and efficiency, it is shown that space-based operation would be possible. For different design parameters such as fiber array size, it is shown that the kHz repetition rate and kW average power of ICAN would be sufficient to de-orbit small 1–10 cm debris within a single instance via laser ablation.     

Life-sciences research opportunities in commercial suborbital space flight

Commercial suborbital space flights will reach altitudes above 100 km, with 3–5 min of weightlessness bracketed by high-g launch and landing phases. The proposed frequency of these flights, and the large passenger population, present interesting opportunities for researchers in the life sciences. The characteristics of suborbital flight are between those of parabolic and orbital flights, opening up new scientific possibilities and easing the burden for obtaining access to 0g.     

The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment on the InSight Mission to Mars

The Rotation and Interior Structure Experiment (RISE) on-board the InSight mission will use the lander’s X-band (8 GHz) radio system in combination with tracking stations of the NASA Deep Space Network (DSN) to determine the rotation of Mars. RISE will measure the nutation of the Martian spin axis, detecting for the first time the effect of the liquid core of Mars and providing in turn new constraints on the core radius and density. RISE will also measure changes in the rotation rate of Mars on seasonal time-scales thereby constraining the atmospheric angular momentum budget. Finally, RISE will provide a superb tie between the cartographic and inertial reference frames. This paper describes the RISE scientific objectives and measurements, and provides the expected results of the experiment.     

Presolar Isotopic Signatures in Meteorites and Comets: New Insights from the Rosetta Mission to Comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko

Comets are considered the most primitive planetary bodies in our Solar System, i.e., they should have best preserved the solid components of the matter from which our Solar System formed. ESA’s recent Rosetta mission to Jupiter family comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko (67P/CG) has provided a wealth of isotope data which expanded the existing data sets on isotopic compositions of comets considerably. In this paper we review our current knowledge on the isotopic compositions of H, C, N, O, Si, S, Ar, and Xe in primitive Solar System materials studied in terrestrial laboratories and how the Rosetta data acquired with the ROSINA (Rosetta Orbiter Sensor for Ion and Neutral Analysis) and COSIMA (COmetary Secondary Ion Mass Analyzer) mass spectrometer fit into this picture. The H, Si, S, and Xe isotope data of comet 67P/CG suggest that this comet might be particularly primitive and might have preserved large amounts of unprocessed presolar matter. We address the question whether the refractory Si component of 67P/CG contains a presolar isotopic fingerprint from a nearby Type II supernova (SN) and discuss to which extent C and O isotope anomalies originating from presolar grains should be observable in dust from 67P/CG. Finally, we explore whether the isotopic fingerprint of a potential late SN contribution to the formation site of 67P/CG in the solar nebula can be seen in the volatile component of 67P/CG.